


Wishing on Stars

by Storywhisper



Category: Disney - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:04:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6610030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storywhisper/pseuds/Storywhisper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: The Heartless - servants of a greater darkness, have destroyed countless worlds. The surviving Denizens of those worlds sought refuge in a world without its own magic. Micah, joined by his Queen, created a home for those Denizens, and a Kingdom of dreams and magic for humans to enjoy, but peace never lasts forever. </p><p>Wishing on Stars: <br/>All Emily Harper wants is to grow up and not get herself killed by Heartless the way her father did. Left as her grandfather’s ward, a trip to the California park is marked in terror when Emily finds herself targeted by Chernabog, the ruler of the Villains inside the park. Caught in the threads of fate, Emily must fight to survive in a world she’s not sure she belongs in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What if the Disney parks were actually places where displaced denizens from other worlds are sent. What if they were all human and this cartoon nonsense was an attempt to make people more comfortable and accepting?  
> What if the Heartless were a real threat, even in our world.   
> This will be a series, and each series will feature a different main character, the trouble that goes on in their story, and the potential for them to have a happily ever after, or tragic ending -

 

-

Emily’s first concern was that she had her ID out and ready as they reached the check point leading into the park. She fished it out of her purse and held it tightly, she didn’t want to have to go through one of the scanners and have everyone turn to stare at her when it light up like the 4th of July.

Why they couldn’t invent low-key scanners was beyond her, but maybe it was to make sure the guards reacted when they did go off. It was for the protection of everyone around that the guards respond to possible Denizen issues.

And Emily was a Denizen, whether she liked it or not. Granted, it hadn’t been her choice to become a Denizen anymore than it was someone’s choice to be born with red-hair. She couldn’t pick her parents after all, and she couldn’t change the fact that in a time before scanners and high security, no one bothered to find out what guests were doing in private with their Denizen ‘friends’.

Walt Disney World was the second of the reservation, and the one Emily had lived near most of her life. Her Grandmother had been one of the first visitors to the Theme Park side of things, and that’s where she met the love of her life – a Denizen from a destroyed world.

The rest was history – or as much History as could be when the Denizen genes still existed and flagged every time Emily went to the parks with her family. She sighed loudly as she by-passed the normal line and approached one of the guards. She held her ID out and waited.

The guard stepped forward and took the piece of plastic gingerly between two fingers. Emily couldn’t help but think that as often as they did this, someone might remember who she was and give her less of a hassle about entering the parks as a human.

The guard’s dark eyebrow rose when he saw the Denizen mark on her ID. “You’re unregistered with us?” he asked.

“My grandfather is a Denizen here,” Emily answered, “I’m mostly human, but my blood still flags on the scanners, and I got neat ears out of the genetic lottery.” She lifted her knit cap to show the pointed ears beneath.

The guard’s lips twitched, his own ears were twice the length of Emily’s, and motioned her through the secondary entrance. “Let him check your bag.” He told her as he handed her ID back.

Emily nodded and slung the strap from around her shoulders, offering the whole bag to the second guard, who did the bare minimum as he scanned through the contents. Handing the bag back, he broke into a smile.

“Have a great day,” he told her.

Emily returned his smile and ducked away to wait for her mom and half-sister. It was a sore spot for everyone involved that Emily had to get special treatment when coming to the parks, but she was honestly used to the annoyed expression her sister and step-father wore when they cleared the line and found her waiting.

She ignored them completely, bouncing on her toes as she scanned her wrist bracelet and headed through the gates, which hummed with magic as she passed through them. Emily had never noticed any of the normal guests acting strange about the magic, so she wondered if they could even feel it.

For her, it was completely normal.

The same normal as running to greet her grandfather, who looked nearly the same age as she was – and always would.

“Hello, doll.” Jasper laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. “How’s school going?”

“Same old,” Emily said as she hooked her arm through his and led the way towards her favorite attraction, a pirate ride that sometimes had real Pirate Denizens inside it. It was always a treat to see if the robotic ones or the real ones were on staff for the day.

“Your mom looks stressed,” Jasper glanced back but the woman in question was lost in the crowd with the other half of her family.

“Step-father from hell is pissed because I had to skip the line.” Emily told him. “he always gets that way when something reminds him that I’m not all human like he is.”

“Having known people like him, you have my sympathy.” Jasper sighed. “Did you bring your magic cards?” He asked.

Emily fished around in the pocket of her jacket and came up with a handful of battered looking cards, each one etched with a beautiful magic circle. “Cards,” she said cheerfully. “Near says I’m getting better at making them.”

Jasper made a small noise as he took the cards and flipped through them. “This one would be dangerous for you to use.” He chided as he held up a card with a large Dragon on it. “Near knows better than this.”

“You only say that because I’m half human.” Emily complained, “You wouldn’t worry about it if Near taught another Denizen that.”

“Denizens are immortal unless they are killed or lose their hearts.” Jasper reminded him. “Our magical cores are rarely ever stressed to the point of death. You’re only half Denizen. Magic can kill you if you treat it carelessly.”

“Near said as much,” Emily admitted somewhat sheepishly. “He said not to use it unless I’m positive it’s life or death.”

“Exactly,” Jasper handed her the cards back with a tired sigh. “Your father was the same as you are. He thought himself immortal…” he trailed off, an old sadness in his eyes. “Don’t end up like he did.”

“Magic didn’t kill him, Grandfather.” Emily said quietly, “the heartless did. If he’d been stronger…”

“He was half human,” Jasper chided, “Your father did everything he could to protect you and your mother, including losing his heart to those beasts.”

Emily ducked her head and flushed. She’d been a baby when the Heartless had attacked their home. Her father had put up a good fight and held them at bay until their Guards could arrive, but he’d lost his heart in the end. He’d died and her mother’s heart died with him. She’d moved herself and her daughter off site, disappearing into the safety of the mortal world.

Jasper reached over and ruffled her hair, only to freeze when a young man stepped out of a nearby building, nearly colliding with them.

“Lord Oswald!” Jasper bowed low, “I wasn’t aware you’d returned from the other park!”

Oswald forced a smile onto his lips before casting a curious glance at Emily. “I just returned today… who is this?” He asked.

“My granddaughter, Emily.” Jasper said, straightening back up. “She’s visiting with her mother.”

“Ah,” Oswald smiled. “A pleasure to meet you, Emily. I’m afraid I may have to steal your grandfather’s time for a moment to talk business. Were you planning on going on a ride?”

“Ah, the pirate ride, sir.” Emily answered, feeling warmth creeping up her cheeks when his gold eyes stayed on her face, still curious. “I can go by myself, it’s no problem!” she said quickly.

“I’d be thankful for that.” Oswald smiled.

Emily cast a quick glance at her grandfather before she ducked away and headed for the ride in question. She’d never met one of the Royal family before. For a while, Oswald was away in Japan, setting up the park over there. Micah, the King, occasionally visited but his home was in the original Park located in California.

The highest ranking person she’d met before today had been the Evil Queen, and that’d been by accident when she’d nearly run into the stunningly beautiful woman, who had laughed off the incident and warned her to be more careful.

The villains were badly controlled dogs, but they treated the guests well since the guests were their livelihood, and one false move could have their King packing them away to one of the reserves that had no parks attached, just the rejects and dogs of the Denizen world.

Emily mused over this as she waited in line, having fished her phone out from her purse, she fiddled with it while she stood there in the sweltering Florida heat. She had been looking forward to spending the day with her grandfather, but she knew that the rules for Denizens were absolute. If a member of the Royal family asked for your time – you gave it to them.

It still didn’t sit well with her that she was going to be riding her favorite right alone. With that morbid thought, Emily slipped out of line and walked over to one of the benches, flopping onto it with a loud huff, a huff that quickly turned into a squeak of alarm when something black and ink-like darted from the planter and underneath her bench.

Springing to her feet, Emily withdrew a spell card from her pocket and held it at the ready.

The creature underneath the bench _looked_ harmless enough. It was roughly the size of a small child, with large yellow eyes and a glowing emblem on the center of its chest – directly where its heart would’ve been had it not been stolen.

No one knew where the heartless came from, only that they bred by stealing human and denizen hearts. The younger the heart, the more power the Heartless got by eating it. Young children were often warded to the high heavens to prevent such a thing, and even normal humans knew how to use basic protection spells to keep themselves from falling prey to the creatures.

It didn’t work all the time – sometimes they just snuck up on you and that was it – you were a gonner before you even knew what hit you.

Emily swallowed hard, only relaxing when two of the park guards stepped into her line of vision, their spells already glowing.

“Stand back, please.” One of the guards ordered.

Emily gratefully stepped further away, only to shriek when the heartless launched itself at her. All her training went out the window as she dived to the side, narrowing avoiding the claws slicing into her chest. Instead, they ripped into her shoulder as she fell, the creature trying to lock itself onto her back.

For one horrible moment Emily thought she was a gonner. She lay there on the ground, the creature on her back, and waited for it to dig its greedy little hands into her, stealing her heart and leaving her to become something just like itself.

She hoped at least that the guards would put her down before her grandfather saw what had become of her. He’d had to put his son down, the last thing he needed was to take the life of his only remaining family member.

The spell burned across her back. Emily pressed her face against the concrete and tried not to scream as her jacket caught fire. The creature above her shrieked in horror as it was burned alive. It twisted and jerked as it tried to get free of the blast, only to crumble to ashes as it scrambled away.

Something cool quickly replaced the flames and Emily breathed a sigh of relief as the healing spells washed over her at last, the burns fading to nothing but a bad memory.

“Are you alright?” The guard said as he knelt down beside her.

“I think so?” Emily breathed as she pushed herself upright, flinching when she felt the wind on her bare back. “My clothes are totaled though.” She said with a backwards glance. The entire back of her jacket and t-shirt were burn away, and her bra had gone with it, leaving her feeling very insecure and exposed.

The guard had the grace to look embarrassed as he slipped his own coat off and offered it to her. “We’ll get your things replaced.” He said quietly. “You’re unharmed though?” his gaze drifted the length of her body before he was satisfied that the healing spell had repaired all the damage.

“What happened?” Jasper demanded as he stepped through the crowd and went to Emily. His silver eyes were wide with fear as he knelt down and took her face in his hands. “What happened?” he repeated in a softer tone of voice.

“A heartless, Lord Jasper,” The second guard answered, looking slight off-put for a moment. “It attacked her without warning. I’m afraid it was clinging to her so she got caught in the fire spell.”

“I healed her.” The first guard added quickly. “There’s no lasting damage.”

“Beyond the mental damage you mean.” Jasper said coolly as he helped Emily to her feet. “Come along, I’m sure we can find you some replacement clothes.” He looped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close as he led her through the crowd, towards one of the entrances into the Denizen only areas.

It didn’t take long for Emily to be ushered into one of the dressing areas and fitted with new clothes. The only problem was that her new clothes were Denizen clothes, leaving her looking more like an employee of the park than a guest. She laughed at her reflection for a moment, turning this way and that as she inspected her appearance.

“Not bad, Em.” She breathed, “You look almost like a proper Denizen in this outfit.”

“Indeed,” Jasper stepped into the room, smiling faintly at his granddaughter. “Em, has your mother talked to you at all about my request?” He asked as he idly glanced down at the phone in his hand.

“Your request to adopt me?” Emily leaned back against the vanity table and frowned at him. “She brought it up once, and Robert was all for it. He hates me.” She added with a roll of her hazel eyes. “He’d be more than happy for me to get the boot so he and his precious daughter can be safe from the freak.”

“You are not a freak, Emily.” Jasper sighed. He lowered his phone and looked at her again. “You are as normal as can be.”

“But I don’t belong in either world,” Emily countered. “I’m not a Denizen; I’m not a human… I don’t know what I am anymore.” She glanced down.

“Your mother agreed to it.” Jasper said at last. “She didn’t have the heart to tell you the truth about why you came to visit today.”

“Wait… what?” Emily’s eyes went wide. “You mean my mom agreed for you to adopt me?” she frowned as she folded her arms against her chest. “Didn’t anyone think to run this by me? I mean like, seriously run this by me?”

Jasper shook his head sadly. “After your mother made up her mind, I thought it best to wait until you were here at the parks before bringing this up with you.” He reached up and brushed some hair back behind her ear. “Is this okay?”

Emily glanced down, feeling suddenly unsure of herself. “I never fit in with the humans.” She told him in a small voice. “I don’t know if I’ll get on any better here, but I guess I can give it a try.” She glanced up finally. “I’m not signing my life away or anything, am I?”

“I’m afraid you are.” Oswald said as he stepped into the room. His hair was loose now, falling messily around his face and across his back, his gold eyes gleaming as he looked the pair over. “I’m the spare for the Kingdom,” he told her. “I can’t sign you on as an official Denizen, only Micah can do that, and you’ll have to be signed on if you want to live with us for any length of time.”

“When is Micah’s next planned visit?” Jasper asked.

“Not for another six months, well past when we’d need to have records on her.” Oswald leaned his back against the door and let out a tired sigh. “I’ve already informed the other park that I’m sending her their way to be signed. A weekend at most until she’s back here.” He added when Jasper opened his mouth to protest.

“Can I go with her at least?”

“With the influx of Heartless attacking both parks, no.” Oswald shook his head. “She’ll be well cared for while she’s away, more so than if she remains at this park. Godfrey, Max, and Donald are all at my brother’s side. There are no better knights or healers than the ones my brother keeps close to him.”

“Yes, but that wife of his will also be there.” Jasper said before he could stop himself, his cheeks flushed when Oswald stared at him. “I apologize.”

“Don’t.” Oswald shook his head in amusement. “Minnie has her issues, and the gods know there are quite a few of them lately, but Micah keeps a tight leash on her. I doubt anything will happen to one half-breed Denizen.”

Never had more fateful words been spoken.

-

Disneyland,” Emily frowned as she looked around her hotel room, feeling out of sorts. It was nicer than any hotel she had ever stayed at, not that she had stayed at many hotels in her seventeen years of life.

She usually got left behind when her mom and step-father went on vacation. Sometimes it was a relief when she was allowed to stay with friends, other times it was a hassle because she was left with the weird old Denizen lady who lived just off-site of her home park.

She set her bag down on the bed and walked over to the large window, pulling the curtains back to take in the stunning view beyond. It was stunning and made her mouth drop open in surprised shock.

The hotel room overlooked a large shopping district, and beyond on that was the theme park. None of the hotels back at her park had a view like this, and Emily happily dragged a chair over to sit in front of the window, watching the large Ferris Wheel turning, flashing a multitude of different hues.

“Miss Emily?”

The voice startled Emily and she sprang out of the chair, her cheeks flushed. “I’m sorry!” she squeaked out.

The woman standing there had pale white hair cut in a modern fashion. She was painfully beautiful, her features the typical inhumanly beautiful of a denizen, but amped up so she was breathtaking even by denizen standards.

“My name is Daisy,” The woman said with a bright smile. “Micah thought you might like to explore the parks. He’s not sure when his schedule will be cleared up to see you.” She added when Emily opened her mouth.

Emily ducked her head and let out a small laugh. “Then yes, I guess I would like to explore. I’ve only ever gone to the parks back home.” She added somewhat shyly.

“Your grandfather is Jasper?” Daisy asked as he walked over and poked at the purse Emily had brought with her, her nose wrinkled slightly in obvious distain to the cheap quality of it.

“He is, I mean yes!” Emily laughed awkwardly and rubbed at the back of her neck. “Sorry, I’m out of sorts today.” She breathed.

Daisy let out a small laugh before shaking her head and offering the purse back to Emily. “It’s fine. I know I’m a bit much even for a Denizen.” She flashed the smile that made her the poster child for PR work. “Come on. You’ve got to get better clothes than this.” She reached out and plucked at the sleeve of Emily’s t-shirt.

Emily flushed a bright red and sighed. “Sorry, my job didn’t exactly pay much.” She said quietly.

“You were able to work?” Daisy’s eyes went wide. “Denizens, even half-breeds, aren’t supposed to take mundane jobs.”

Emily flinched, “My stepfather didn’t appreciate my mooching off him and my mom, so every now again I’d lie and get a job. It lasted until they figured out I wasn’t human and that was that.” She sighed somewhat jadedly.

“I see,” Daisy’s expression softened before she turned away and let the way towards the door.

A light silence stretched between them as they made their way to the elevators and down to the lobby. Daisy started to head for the sliding glass doors but froze when a young man approached them.

His features were sharp and stunningly handsome, white-hair cut in a careless, almost messy way, but with obvious intent to highlight how beautiful he was. For a moment, Emily couldn’t figure out his gender, he was simply beautiful and gender held no meaning for him.

He was slightly taller than Daisy, even with high-heeled boots. His uniform was crisp and embellished with the symbol of the Royal guard.

Daisy’s eyes went wide when she saw him. “Donald, I thought you were with Micah?” she said softly as she reached out and took one of his delicate hands in hers.

“I was,” His voice soft, rougher than Emily would’ve expected. Then again, she had grownup watching the cartoons made to promote the parks, and Donald’s cartoon version had been a duck with a horrible voice.

“Then why are you here?” Daisy asked.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to cancel her outing,” Donald’s gaze flickered briefly to Emily before he dismissed her as unimportant. “Maleficent is demanding she see the King – today – so it’s all hands on deck while we get everything together.” He let out a jaded sounding sigh before he turned back to look at Emily. “I apologize but do you mind returning to your hotel room?”

“No, that’s fine!” Emily squeaked, flushing at having him focus on her like that.

Daisy let out a surprised laugh before she reached out and smacked Donald’s arm. “Oi, stop that, she’s too little for you to be doing that.”

Donald grinned and brushed some of his hair back behind one pointed ear. “She doesn’t look very little to me.” He snickered.

Emily reached up and rubbed at her cheeks, “I’m going back to my room now before I die.” She turned to leave, only to nearly collide with a large man standing directly behind her. She stumbled backwards and would have fallen if the man hadn’t reached out and caught hold of her wrist, yanking her upright and against the front of his body.

“Careful now, little girl.” He warned, “that could have ended very badly for you.”

Emily looked up. He wore a pair of sunglasses, but his glowing eyes were visible through the dark lenses. His features were hard, hair dark and cut military style. His suit was nice, but nothing special. It seemed ill fitted to his body, which was built in a very strange way. Denizens ran towards the slender end of the body type – he was built like a tank, rough edges and muscle.

“Chernabog!” Donald took a threatening step forward. “Release her, now.”   

“Oh, is this our visiting half-breed?” He angled his head towards her, sniffing. “Oh, she smells innocent.” He chuckled, a very male sound that raised the hairs on the back of Emily’s neck.

Alarm bells were sounding inside Emily’s head and she yanked on her wrist, hard. He held it a moment longer, squeezing until she could feel the bones shifting. A small, pained sound left her.

“Chernabog!”

His grip relaxed and Emily stumbled back from the demon, holding her wrist against the front of her body, eyes wide.

“Let me see,” Donald stepped forward and held his hand out. “I’m a healer,” he said when Emily stared at him.

Slowly she extended her hand to him, flinching when he gently took hold of it, placing his hands on either side of her wrist. A light gold glow shimmered around her wrist, sinking through her skin. Instantly the pain vanished.

“There,” Donald lifted his gaze and smiled. “Now, off you go. Stay in your room.” He ordered. “Godfrey is the head of our guards, and he’ll know if you leave your hotel room on your own. Trust me when I say that he is not like his cartoon counterpart, same as I am not a duck with a high pitched voice.”

Emily smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir.” She breathed. “I’ll stay put.”

“Good girl,” He nodded towards the elevators, his gaze no fixed on Chernabog. “You and I need to have a talk, demon.”

Chernabog let out a deep laugh before he glanced back at Emily. “Welcome to the other park, Emily Harper.” He said, his accent suddenly pronounced and thick. “Our Queen truly hopes you enjoy your stay here.”

Emily started. “I thought the Queen was ill…” she whispered. “That’s why she couldn’t attend…”

Donald put himself between her and Chernabog for the second time, his eyes narrowing. “The Queen is very ill right now, Emily.” He said in a low voice. “Now go back to your room, now.”

“Donald, she needs a ward.” Daisy said suddenly.

Donald let out a small oath before he fished around in the pocket of his coat and tossed Daisy a lime green stone. “That’ll have to do until I can make her one.” He said.

Daisy nodded and approached Emily. “Hold out your hand.” She ordered.

Emily knew about wards but she had never seen them used for personal protection. Was this park more at risk for the Heartless than hers? Or was there something else going on? It had to be that, there was no other reason for them to give her a personal ward.

“Emily, your hand!” Daisy ordered.

Emily flushed and stuck out her hand, flinching when the cool stone came in contact with her skin. Instantly she felt a flash of heat as the stone’s magic clashed with her own. A second passed with the two types of magic arguing as to who should protect and who should submit.

Donald’s magic won and Emily sighed when her magic quieted back down. She was in no way a powerful magic user. Her human blood made it impossible for her to stand up against a full-blooded Denizen like Donald.

Donald’s back stiffened when his magic settled over her, a small sigh escaping him as he glanced back. “I’ll know if you’re in trouble now.” He told her. “But do try to stay safe, it’s annoying when someone with one of my wards dies, I feel their death, and you’re already dying by simply being too human.”

Daisy flinched before she motioned Emily towards the elevators. “Go straight to your room, no playing around.” She ordered.

“Yes, Mother,” Emily said with a sarcastic salute. She was acting more confident than she felt, the weight of what Donald had said to her, along with Chernabog’s strange behavior was unnerving her to say the least.

She wanted to go home – back to her proper park – and away from all these insanely over-powered Denizens.

When the elevator doors closed, Emily leaned back against the wall and sighed – only to scream when she fell through the wall.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay, if anyone is actually reading this - I got distracted by life, school and writing my book. But the book is almost finished so I can play with fanfiction again, yay!

Chapter two,

“It’s amazing you weren’t killed.” The man was saying as he placed a band-aid over the scratch on her left cheek. “When you fell on the tracks, I thought for sure the car was going to cut you right in two!”

Emily shuddered slightly at the visual and tried not to think about what had just happened ten minutes ago. “Funny, I thought the same thing.” She managed weakly. The simple ward Donald had given her was not completely destroyed, only a pixie-like dust remaining in her pocket to remind her of what it once was. “I still don’t understand how I got from the hotel to here.” She rubbed at her eyes, which still ached from the bright flash of light she’d seen as she fell through the elevator wall and onto the tracks of the Matterhorn.

“Only thing I can think of is a portal, and the damage matches that theory.” The healer glanced towards the destroyed tracks and sighed. The combination of a sudden illegal portal and an active ward protecting someone had bent the tracks and shattered a good portion of the wall. “Someone wanted you dead, girlie, and they almost did it.”

Emily glanced over her shoulder to where a group of pure humans were sitting having their memories carefully altered to fit with whatever story the men in black suits were spinning. There’d been no sign of Donald or Daisy, or any upper rank denizens. The park security simply looked at her and shook their heads.

She wasn’t their problem because she was outside the laws of the park until she was signed on as a Denizen. Emily was almost grateful the King had been too busy to see her – at least she wasn’t having to shoulder the blame for destroying one of the most popular rides in the park.

“Does someone want to tell me how the bloody hell the track ended up destroyed?” A deep, commanding voice ordered. The owner of the voice was a man dressed in uniform of the King’s personal guard. His hair was cut close to his head, his features strong and stern.

“Ward and most likely a portal, Lord Godfrey.” The healer tending Emily called out, drawing the man’s attention to them. “The girl got dropped through the portal onto the tracks, the ward saved her life.”

Godfrey… Emily’s eyes widened as she connected the name with his rank. He was the Guard Captain, head of every guard in service of Kingdoms, though he was always at the King’s side, his right hand while Donald was his left.

His dark eyes locked on her and Emily shrank a bit.

“Would you care to explain, young lady, how you fell through a portal and onto the tracks of a active ride? I’m sure there are easier ways to commit suicide. Ways that don’t involve innocent people.”

“It’s not like that at all!” Emily blurted out, “I was in the elevator at the hotel and then… then I was. I don’t know who set up the portal, or why they were trying to kill me.” She knew her argument was weak and all she could imagine was spending the rest of her mortal life in a jail cell somewhere beneath the castle.

“Someone went to a lot of effort to kill you,” Godfrey remarked. “How is it that one nameless girl managed to get a hit placed on her so fast?”

“I wish I knew,” Emily said with a shrug. She regretted the movement almost instantly, her shoulder flaring with pain.

“Left shoulder,” Godfrey said, startling Emily.

Before she could protest, the healer had her shirt up and was inspecting her back, his magic cool against her skin. “Damn it,” he murmured. “Godfrey, take a look at this before I heal it.”

Godfrey walked around to inspect her back. “That’s a pretty little marker.” He said softly. “Tell me, Emily, have you been playing with demons?”

“If you mean Mr. Sunglasses, then that was an entirely one-sided game.” Emily hissed. The healer’s magic was sinking into her skin, pulling and yanking at something that felt white-hot around the edges. “He cornered me at the hotel and Donald finally made him go away.”

“Chernabog,” Godfrey said in a low voice.

“Lord Godfrey, the King needs to be made aware of this.” The healer said, his voice strained as he struggled to remove the curse from the teen’s skin. “Chernabog is…”

“I know what Chernabog is, Jack.” Godfrey sighed, “very well. Are you finished?” he asked when Jack leaned back.

“Finished,” Jack said with a nod. “No more marker spell on her. Whatever traps Chernabog set for her, they won’t trigger unless he marks her again.”

“Good,” Godfrey grabbed Emily by the arm and hauled her up onto her feet. “You’re coming with me.”

“Where are we going?” Emily squeaked as the tall man yanked her along beside him. They left the staging area behind and ducked into a well-lit hallway. Emily struggled to keep up with Godfrey’s long strides, huffing and puffing by the time they turned a corner into a large control room – active portals hissing and spluttering from every corner of the main floor.

“Lord Godfrey, the Underlanders are still unaccounted for, though portal activity suggests that something came through.” A young woman said before she saw Emily being tugged along behind Godfrey. “Oh, is this the one who fell on the tracks?”

“Set a portal to the King’s office, this is his problem now.” Godfrey ordered. “I want it stopped before it gets out of hand.”

“I like how I’m a problem,” Emily mumbled under her breath. “And if trying to kill me isn’t already out of hand, I’d hate to see what is.”

“An army of heartless, all hell-bent on destroying you.” The woman at the computer station said coolly.

Whatever other snide remarks Emily might’ve had faded, her fear finally coming to the front at the thought of how many other countless people would die just because Chernabog wanted her dead. “Why does he want to kill me so bad?” she said in a small voice. “I’ve never even met him until today!”

“You’re Jasper’s Emily, right?” The woman asked as she pushed her chair back from the station, her silver eyes sparkling with memory.

Emily nodded.

“Jasper is well known,” The woman said. “You are the last of a very well-known bloodline, Emily. It could be that Chernabog is aiming to harm Jasper and you’re just the means to an end. It could be that he, for whatever reason, has decided he wants you dead and that’s that.” The woman smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, Godfrey has kept the king alive all this time, no way is he going to let you end up dead now that you’re his.”

“She is not mine.” Godfrey said, though there was a softness to his voice as he placed his hand on the top of Emily’s head, a gentle gesture. “Come on.” He steered her in the direction of a large portal, and gave her another gentle shove through it.

When the feeling of spider webs faded, Emily found herself standing in a handsome looking office. The floor to ceiling windows over-looked Disneyland park, which included the cloud of dust still issuing from the destroyed section of the Matterhorn.

“Godfrey, can you please tell me who blew up my ride?” The man at the desk asked without looking up from his laptop.

“Chernabog,” Godfrey answered.

The man’s head snapped up in surprise, his eyes drifted over Emily before returning to Godfrey. “And why is Chernabog destroying my rides?” he asked.

“He was attempting to kill her.” Godfrey pointed at Emily. “If she’d died, I’m assuming his marking spell would’ve gone with her and we’d never have any proof of his involvement.”

The man let out a tired sounding sigh before pushing back from his desk. He was a handsome man, shorter than Godfrey, but Emily suspected most people were shorter than the guard Captain, his hair was black and worn long, braided and trailing down his back, past his narrow hips.

His features were exotic when paired with the denizen genes so obvious in his gold colored irises. His skin was a rich tan color, dark and beautiful – all wrapped up in one of the most beautifully tailored suits Emily had ever seen a man wear before.

He looked like an executive, but his power was that of a King, of that there was no doubt. “How is it that she’s alive?” he leaned back in the chair.

“Donald gave me a protection ward, sir.” Emily answered. “It triggered when I fell on the tracks.”

“Poor Donald,” The man laughed, “he hates saving people’s lives.”

Emily’s lips twitched. “I got that feeling when he gave me the ward.” She admitted.

“Ah,” Godfrey cleared his throat. “Sir, this is Emily Harper, Jasper’s granddaughter. Emily, this is Micah, our King.”

Emily bowed her head, “It’s very nice to meet you, sir.” She said, unsure of whether he was formal or like Oswald, very relaxed.

“I can see your question, go ahead and ask.” Micah said with a grin.

“Are you the formal sort of noble or are you more like Oswald?” Emily asked.

“And how is my brother?” Micah’s eyebrow rose.

“He couldn’t care less what people call him so long as cool or awesome is included somewhere in the sentence.” Emily grinned. “Which isn’t hard when he actually is kind of awesome.”

“You’re very fond of him,” Micah leaned his chin on his hand, a wide smile on his lips. “I’m glad. I was worried that sending him to another park so soon after he returned to Tokyo might set him back some, but it seems that Orlando has done him a world of good.”

“Well, beyond the heartless problem we have.” Emily said with a wince. “I know he and my grandpa were trying to come up with a better warding system for the park.”

“There’s more ground to cover there than there is here,” Micah acknowledged. “How many guests were injured, Godfrey?” he glanced at the guard captain, who was staring at his phone.

“Lisa has the numbers; I’ll get them for you shortly.” Godfrey answered. “As it stands, the only Denizen who has threatened Miss Harper is Chernabog.”

Emily frowned, “Actually I think Chernabog might’ve been sent to threaten me.” The moment the words left her lips she knew they were the truth.

Micah’s eyebrow rose. “Who…”

“It was your wife, Micah.” Godfrey said as he tucked his phone back into the front pocket of his coat. “Donald said that Chernabog gave an indirect threat. He also says that he’s not supplying another ward to the young lady and that you can do it yourself if you want her alive.” His lips twitched upwards, “Apparently he got a nosebleed and ruined his favorite coat.”

“He’s worse than Daisy.” Micah said under his breath. “Very well, I’ll make her a ward later and drop it by her room.” He leaned back in the chair and whistled a happy tune before sitting forward. “Emily, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask that you move into the tower for a short while, just until we can get you signed on as a Denizen and back to your proper park.”

“Wait, you mean here?” Emily looked around, her eyes wide. “Sir…”

“The rooms in the tower are all warded to prevent portals from opening, Emily. There is no safer place anywhere.” Micah assured her. “It’s just until I have a spare moment. As soon as I can send you back to Florida, I will.” He promised.

“Doesn’t your wife live here? Won’t that make it a little too easy?”

Micah’s eyebrow rose, “Emily,” there was a note of warning in his voice now. “I’ll mind my wife – you mind your own, yes?”

Emily’s shoulder slumped. “Yes, sir.” She relented. “I wonder if it would help if my Grandpa knew…” she added thoughtfully. She nearly missed the slight wince from Micah.

“I’m sure Jasper would be very displeased to know you’ve been put in danger.” Godfrey acknowledged.

“Yeah, but he’s got nothing on Chernabog,” Emily sighed, “that guy is a power house.”

The King’s eyebrow rose. “You can sense power?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” Emily nodded, “But not always. Sometimes I’m fooled into thinking someone is harmless when really they’re scary as sin. Chernabog would’ve gotten me if he hadn’t touched me. I had no clue he was as powerful as he actually is.” She added as an after thought.

“Micah, we’re running short on time.” Godfrey said suddenly, “and Lord knows we don’t want to keep Maleficent waiting in a lobby full of innocent humans.” He tried to sound humorous about it, but it fell flat, letting Emily know there was a real risk in leaving the fairy downstairs with the humans.

“Very well,” Micah sighed, “Emily, I’ll speak with you later after my meeting, yes?”

“Oh course, your highness,” Emily bowed her head.

“Micah,” He corrected gently. “If you’re going to be living here, please call me Micah.”

“Micah,” Emily said, his name feeling strange on her lips. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

Micah bowed his head in acknowledgement.

Without wasting another moment, Godfrey curled his hand around her arm and steered her from the room, into a small reception area. “Lisa, can you have someone escort Miss Harper to the second guest bedroom? She’ll be staying here in the tower until her contract is signed by the king.”

“Of course,” The human woman said, getting to her feet with a surprised look on her face. “Can I ask why?”

“People want me dead.” Emily said before Godfrey could answer. “You know, the usual.”

Lisa grinned brightly as she shook her head. “Ah, yes, just another day at Disneyland.” She agreed with a lighthearted laugh. “I’ll have Rick walk her over to the guest room.”

“Thank you,” Godfrey bowed his head before he turned and went to rejoin the king in the office.

“That is one scary man.” Emily breathed when the door had closed behind him.

“The cartoons are entirely misleading.” Lisa agreed. “Come on, Rick will meet you in the hallway.” She said, “I just paged him.”

Emily followed Lisa out into a brightly lit hallway. Despite the cheerful lighting and windows, the room felt heavy with magic – a dark sort of magic. Emily turned her head even as Lisa grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way.

Maleficent was beautiful, her skin flawless and pale, witch-green eyes sparkling as they looked Emily over.

“Jasper’s granddaughter,” she said quietly, her voice lovely. “What a pleasure it is to meet you!” she offered Emily her hand, and like a fool – Emily took it.

Power hit Emily like a train, she nearly doubled over from the shock of it, choking as she tried to process the sheer amount of power contained in this one woman.

Maleficent let out a delighted gasp, “Oh, you are powerful aren’t you!” she freed her hand from Emily’s grasp, laughter like bells. “Jasper will be so pleased to know his bloodline is alive and well within you, dear. It’s a pity you’re so human though.” She frowned and tapped a finger against her carefully painted lips. “I’m sure Ursula could fix you.”

“Maleficent, I was starting to think you’d stood me up.” Micah’s voice was candy sweet as he stepped into the hallway, drawing the fairy’s attention to him. “I think Ursula has created enough mischief for the year, let’s not go putting ideas into a young girl’s head, yes?”

“Oh, of course, Micah,” Maleficent purred, stepping forward and offering the king her hand. “But come, I’ve been very concerned about you. Minnie has been spinning wonderful tales to us on the other side of the park about your health.”

Micah’s smile went tight. “My wife is sadly mistaken.” He said softly, “I’m fine.”

“Indeed,” Maleficent leaned forward, nuzzling her face against his. “Oh, you smell delightful today, Micah.” She breathed, “so much magic on your skin, so dark and lovely.”

“Emily, come on.” Lisa tugged at Emily’s arm, dragging her away from the strange scene.

“Are they a couple?” Emily asked when they’d turned the corner to where a young guard stood waiting. “Maleficent and…”

“No,” Lisa shook her head firmly. “Maleficent just likes to make it seem that way.” She sighed jadedly before she looked at the guard. “Rick, she needs to be taken to the second guest room. It should be set up for her already.”

“Of course,” Rick said with a bow of his head.

“Please keep her out of sight of… well, to be safe let’s just say everyone.” Lisa gave Emily an awkward look. “She’s catnip for the bad sort.”

Emily flushed bright red, “You say that like I mean to be catnip!” she stomped her foot childishly, “It’s not like I want them to take an interest in me. Hell, I didn’t even know my grandpa was someone important until I got here!”

Lisa let out a small laugh, “Your grandfather is Yen Sid’s only son, of course he’s important.”

“Yen Sid?”

“He was the one who taught our King everything he knows. He is the reason the royal family is as powerful as it is, and the reason we were all able to escape the heartless. Micah’s portal network is insanely powerful, able to pick up the worlds that are about to be destroyed and offer their Denizens an escape.”

“Just last night we picked up a boy around your age, his world was destroyed by the Heartless. He’s the only survivor.” Rick sounded pleased with himself. “Poor mouse was so confused as to what was going on. Didn’t help that we were picking up a drop off from Scarlet as well.” He shook his head in annoyance.

“Scarlet?”

“A sea captain,” Lisa said quietly, “If you’ve been on the Pirate ride, she’s the woman in red.”

“The one who killed her husband after he bought her?” Emily’s eyes lit up. “She’s real?”

“Of course!” Rick laughed and pat the top of Emily’s head. “But come on, there’ll be more Villains attending the meeting today, rather you not run into any…”

“More?” Chernabog said in amusement. He was leaning against the doorway they had just come from, his eyes glowing through the lenses of his sunglasses. “Emily,” he greeted, “I’m so glad that accident earlier didn’t cause you any harm. It’d be such a shame if the game ended so early.”

Emily stepped back from him, bumping into Rick, which made her squeak in alarm.

Chernabog chuckled softly as he pushed away from the wall and approached. “Come now, Emily, I haven’t given you any reason to fear me, have I?” he cocked his head to the side. “Poor little girl, you’re so frightened of the dark. Surely you can see that not all dark things are evil, yes?” he extended a clawed hand towards her.

Emily shrank away from it, only to gasp when Rick suddenly shoved her behind him and drew a sword from his belt.

“Chernabog,” he snapped, “By your oath to the royal family, you may not cause harm to one under their protection. King Micah has given this girl his oath that she is safe within his kingdom.”

“Has he?”

Emily wondered how Rick knew that.

Chernabog sighed jadedly before he pushed away, “Pity, I guess I’ll just have to wait for her to leave his Kingdom, yes?” He grinned, showing rows of sharp teeth. “She can’t stay here forever, and Micah might not always be around to protect you, little girl.”

“Enough!” Rick’s eyes narrowed. “Enough, Chernabog. Be a good dog and go sit at your master’s feet!”

Chernabog let out a delighted sounding laugh before he raised his hand. Emily felt the sudden surge of magic a second before something black shot from Chernabog’s hand, connecting solidly with Rick.

Emily raised her hands to brace his back, only to find that there was nothing there to touch. Nothing but ash that floated gently through the air.

Lisa let out an ungodly shriek, one Emily wanted to echo, and ran blindly away through another set of doors; leaving Emily alone in the hallway with Chernabog.

“Well, he was a waste of air,” Chernabog mused as he stepped forward and used his polished shoe to kick at the remains of Rick’s uniform. “Surely a clever girl like yourself can see as much.”

Emily took a measured step backwards, reaching into her pocket for the deck of cards she kept there. She felt better when the deck was in her hand and she could see the top card, a shielding spell that was designed by her grandfather. If Jasper’s spells couldn’t hold up to Chernabog then there was no reason for her to even try to survive.

Chernabog saw the spell cards and his smile vanished, replaced by an ugly sneer that turned his face wicked and inhuman. “I can spell Jasper’s magic all over that deck.” He spat, “The bastard should know better than to hand a child such powerful magic!”

“Not that it matters, but I created over half these cards myself.” Emily whispered, still backing away from him.  

Chernabog’s eyes went wide. “He taught you to make cards?” He took an eager step forward, his eyes glowing brighter and brighter with each step, the left lens cracking as his power grew. “You, a child, know Yen Sid’s secrets?”

Emily knew she’d just made a terrible mistake. Whatever interest Chernabog had had before this moment, none of it mattered now that he knew she could make magic cards. She’d always known her grandfather’s skills were different, it was something that drove Near insane when he tried to teach her the normal way to create cards.

“Chernabog,” The voice belonged to a delicate looking woman, her hair trailing down her back in careless curls. She wore a form fitting white dress, more of a nightgown than anything else. It was sheer and clung to her curves, and even Emily took notice.

She was beautiful – and Emily knew she was in love the moment she set eyes on the woman.

“Minnie,” Chernabog relaxed his stance and turned towards her, a smile on his lips as he held out a clawed hand to her. Hers looked so delicate against his.

“Is this her?” Minnie asked as she looked Emily over. “I’m surprised she’s still alive.” She leaned her head against Chernabog’s chest, a smile gracing her lovely lips.

“Jasper’s trained her to make the cards.” Chernabog said eagerly. “We can use her.”

“Can we?” Minnie frowned, her expression unhappy.

Emily frowned as well. She didn’t want this beautiful woman to be unhappy, she wished there was something she could do… anything she could do to make her smile again. Her smile was truly the loveliest thing Emily had ever seen.

“Minnie,” The voice was Micah’s, and it was filled with anger. “Leave her.” He ordered when the Queen continued to stare at Emily. “I know what you’re doing. You will stop, now!”

Minnie sighed jadedly before she looked away, her delicate spell work falling away as she turned to face her husband, a pout on her lips. “You’re no fun, Micah!” she complained as she stepped forward and draped her arms around his neck.

Micah sighed and placed his hands gently on her hips, drawing her close for a moment. “Can’t you just stop?” he asked her.

Minnie looked up at him, her expression lost for a moment. “Micah…”

He shook his head sadly before he looked to Emily, “Where is your guard?” he asked.

Emily pointed to the pile of ash on the floor. “Chernabog.” She said when Micah’s eyes went wide.

Chernabog sneered at her before he turned to Micah. “He insulted me.”

“So you killed him?” Micah’s eyebrow rose. “Did you kill Lisa as well?”

“No, she ran off,” Emily answered, “leaving me with sunglasses.”

Micah snorted and shook his head, tightening his grip on Minnie when she tried to look back at Emily. “Very well, I’m sure Max can walk you back to your hotel.” He said lightly. “Come along, Minnie, Chernabog.” He said.

“Max is mine!” Minnie protested.

“You’ve no use for a guard right now, Minnie, not with Chernabog watching you.” Micah reminded her softly.

Emily stayed where she was as the trio vanished around the corner. Slowly she backed up to the far wall, as far from the pile of ashes formerly known as Rick as she could get. She sagged against the wall, tucking her cards back into her pocket.

“Emily?”

The speaker was a young man, his features lovely but rougher than a full-blooded denizen. Emily had seen pictures of him before, alongside his father, Godfrey. His hair was black and cut strangely, one side shaved down, the other long enough to touch his neck, bangs swept over his left eye.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Emily straightened up.

“I’m walking you back to your room.” Max said as he stepped over the pile of ashes and offered her his arm. “Let’s go before something else goes wrong.”

Emily let out a snort of laugher before nodding her head. “Let’s.”

-

The guest bedroom hummed with a protective spell, but it did little to ease Emily’s mind as she picked up the phone and dialed her grandfather’s cell.

“Jasper,” he said upon answer.

“Grandpa, it’s Emily.” She said quickly. “Can I please come home?” she pressed her face into the pillow for a moment, groaning at how childish she sounded.

“What’s wrong?” Jasper asked.

“Everything!” Emily rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. “I’ve only met a handful of people who don’t want to kill me, and I watched someone die today.”

Jasper was silent for a long moment. “Emily, you’re going to have to start at the beginning.”

“Daisy was going to escort me through the parks today, but the Villains wanted to talk to Micah, so she and Donald had to go back to take care of some stuff. Chernabog was in the lobby of my hotel and I guess he threatened me? Or maybe the Queen threatened me through him, I don’t know.”

“Why would the Queen threaten you?” Jasper asked.

“I don’t know,” Emily repeated. “All I know is that when I got onto the elevator, a portal opened that dropped me onto the tracks of the Matterhorn. Donald’s ward is the only reason I’m still alive to bitch about this. After that, Godfrey took me to see Micah and he basically admitted his wife is going to kill me, or Chernabog is.”

Jasper remained silent, and that scared Emily more than anything.

“After that, Micah agreed it’d be safer for me to stay in the tower, in a guest room. But, before I could get to my room, Chernabog showed up again and killed my guard, threatened me some more before he saw I had cards, and then I put my foot in my mouth by saying I designed most of my cards, not you.”

“Oh Emily…”

“I know!” Emily whined, “I didn’t mean to but… it just kind of came out.” She wiped at her eyes with her free hand, feeling the sting of tears. “After that, the Queen showed up, and holy cow she is beautiful, like… Grandpa, until today I thought I was completely straight, but good lord, if that woman asked me to, I’d happily be anything she wanted me to be.”

“It’s a spell, Emily.” Jasper chuckled. “The Queen spelled you into finding her attractive.”

“Don’t care – she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Yes, she is.” Jasper agreed. “Next?”

“Micah showed up, dragged Minnie and Chernabog away, and had Max show me to my room finally. No one died after the first guy, and he was kind of stupid… he called Chernabog a dog.”

“Suicide by demon, awesome.” Jasper let out a long sigh, “Emily, I’d tell you to stay out of trouble, but you can never quite manage that much. Alright, listen up, I’m going to travel with Oswald tomorrow. We’ll be at the park tomorrow night. Try to stay alive until then?”

“Chernabog doesn’t want to kill me anymore.” Emily frowned, “He changed his mind when he found out I can make cards like yours.”

“That’s a thousand times worse.” Jasper whispered, his voice cracking around the edges. “You do not want that demon to have any interests in you, Emily. Whether it’s cards or just killing you, staying off his radar means you stay alive.”

“Micah said I’d be safe here…”

“He’s doing a fantastic job so far!” Jasper snapped, “He can’t control his wife and he can’t control that damnable demon! He is the reason my father left this world, because he took on more than he can handle and refused to belief his wife was falling in with the wrong sort!”

“Grandpa…”

“My father was one of the most powerful magic users to ever live, Emily. He trained me, and would’ve trained your father if he’d lived long enough. Micah is the only other student he taught, and even then, Micah was too hard headed to learn all his lessons.” Jasper snapped, “Yen Sid left because he saw Micah’s failures.”

“Is that why Chernabog wants cards?” Emily asked.

“It’s not cards he wants, Emily, it’s the power we use in creating them.” Jasper said as he hung up, leaving Emily alone with her thoughts.

She set the phone back in the cradle and sighed, loudly.

“That went well,” Max said from his place by the window. He had his feet up on the sill, staring out at the park below. “Jasper always was a pissy sort of man.” He added when Emily stared at him.

“Was all that true?”

“How would I know? It’s not like my dad tells me anything beyond ‘this is who you’re guarding today, don’t die’,” Max laughed bitterly. “I’m half-human, like you. The only reason my dad has anything to do with me is because my mom died when I was still a baby and there was no one else to look after me.”

Emily actually laughed. “I had the other side of your coin. My dad died when I was still a baby and my human mother had to raise me. My grandpa tried to help when he could, but she was kind of bitter towards Denizens at that point.” She told him. “She married a human guy when I was six years old, and they had a baby that same year. A normal human baby… she loved her a hell of a lot more than she ever loved me.”

“That can’t be true,” Max agued, “a mother always loves their child, always!”

“That’s fairytale thinking,” Emily rejected. “Denizens attract heartless. My grandpa had to ward our house because the Heartless showed up a dozen or so times during my childhood. He taught me to use magic when I was nine because my mom refused to let him take me, or to move closer to the parks.”

Max sighed quietly, shaking his head in sympathy. “I’m sorry I argued, it sounds like she…” he trailed off and gave a helpless sort of shrug.

“She loved being human more than she loved her daughter?” Emily finished. “That’s what I thought, too. I mean, I know I’m seventeen and I’d be able to leave home next spring, but having my grandpa adopt me is kind of a blessing, you know? Guards everywhere to keep the Heartless away… and maybe I can stop stressing so much over magic if I’m not constantly having to protect myself.” The moment she finished speaking she started laughing. “Gods, now I just have a bunch of people trying to kill me.”

“Eh, just another day in the life of a Denizen,” Max teased. “Seriously though, I’ve never seen Chernabog zero in on someone like this. Between you and the Queen, the Demon is trying for a harem it seems.”

Emily gagged, “Don’t ever mention Chernabog and a harem in the same sentence again if you want me to stay sane!” she ordered. “Gods, he’s… huge.” She blurted out.

Max opened and closed his mouth a few times before he looked away, cheeks flushing. “Yup.” He said.

Emily froze. “You’ve… seen it?” she whispered.

“I’ve been Minnie’s guard for two years now, Emily.” Max said with a roll of his eyes.

“Wait, hold up!” Emily sprang up off the bed and approached him, “Chernabog and the Queen?!”

Max laughed suddenly and swatted at her as she poked at his face. “Yes, Chernabog and the Queen have sex, are you happy now?”

“What does Micah think about this?” Emily asked.

“Micah…” Max frowned. “Honestly, he has to know, she doesn’t make the relationship a secret or anything. But it’s not like Micah and Minnie have been close, not for a couple years at least. I mean, within the last week, they seem a lot closer but Micah’s very unhappy now.” He tapped a finger against his chin, frowning. “he’s also been a lot harsher on the villains.”

“You think they did something?” Emily grabbed the other chair and sank into it. “To the King?”

“Yeah, with the Queen’s help.” Max nodded. “I shouldn’t be telling you this,” he added suddenly. “My dad would kill me if he knew.”

“Who am I going to tell?” Emily demanded. “At the moment, half the people I’ve met want me dead, the rest probably already know about Micah and Minnie.”

Max nodded. “Love potion,” he said.

Emily opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking. “They all have horrible side effects.” She argued, “like, really horrible side effects – the type that kill you in the end sort of side effects.”

“That’s what worries me.” Max said softly. “I think it’s Ursula’s doing, it has her scent all over it… or Micah does anyway, which makes me think he’s spending more time with her than he has before.”

Emily frowned.

“My dad is part dog,” Max laughed, “I got a good nose out of the genetic lottery.”

“And all I got were some shitty ears.” Emily laughed.

Max grinned and tapped his own pair of short, pointed ears. “Same, but you’ve more magic than I have.” He cleared his throat, “anyway, so Micah smells a lot like Ursula, and she’s good at potions and deals.”

“So Micah’s making a deal with her?”

“I think so, no one’s said anything, but I think he must be if the potion Minnie gave him is going to be fatal in the end.”

“How do we even know that’s what happened?”

“Because…”

“Because people forget Max is in the room and talk freely.” Micah said from the doorway. “Max, while I find your theories very interesting, my wife has asked to visit the parks and I think it best you return to her side.”

Max’s cheeks were flushed as he stood quickly, bowing to the king. “O-Of course, sire.” He whispered.

“And next time, make sure you know who is listening in on your conversations, yes?” Micah requested as Max ducked past him.

“Yes, sir,”

The door shut behind Max, leaving Emily alone with a very tired looking Micah.

“So it is a love potion?” Emily asked.

Micah’s gold eyes flickered to her face for a moment. “Yes, it’s a love potion.” He answered.

“And you are making a deal with Ursula?” Emily shifted, leaning her arms on the table in front of her as she looked at the king.

Micah let out a small oath before crossing the room to take Max’s empty seat. “No, I am not making any deals with Ursula at this time.” He said, “The potion isn’t going to kill me yet, not unless I start using magic like crazy.”

“Oh,” Emily looked down at her hands for a moment, “But you’re going to die if you don’t find a cure, right?”

“I already know how to cure myself, Emily.” Micah said softly, “I’m just trying to find another option in the meantime.”

“Oh, right.” Emily glanced up, surprised to see an amused smile on his lips. “You aren’t mad that Max told me all this?”

“Max is a child,” Micah soothed, “He is also going to make a fantastic spy one day, pending Godfrey doesn’t decide to send him away.”

“Would he?”

“Godfrey doesn’t think that Max has what it takes, nor does he desire to watch his only child age and die.”

“His wife…”

“Died of cancer the year after Max was born. None of our healers could cure it, and the human doctors could only do so much. In the end, she died and Godfrey lost his heart in the worst way possibly. He shut himself away, and that meant shutting Max away, too.”

Emily laughed softly and nodded her head. “I can relate to that.”

“Your mother?” Micah smiled faintly, “Yes, I had a chance to look at your file today. You spent most of your life in the human world, true?”

“True,” Emily nodded. “My stepfather hated me, and my sister resented me. My grandpa is the only one who bothered with me.” She smiled faintly.

“Jasper is…” Micah shrugged helplessly. “He doesn’t like me.” He said at last.

Emily nodded, “I got that feeling when I spoke with him.”

Micah winced and rubbed at the back of his neck. “After I failed his father’s test, Jasper wrote me off as a bad-egg. He never got the whole story, and avoids my park at all costs.”

“Is that why he lives in the other park?”

“Emily, he put in a transfer request for the Tokyo park,” Micah frowned, “You didn’t know?”

“No, I didn’t!” Emily’s eyes went wide. “I don’t speak any Japanese.”

“Of all the things you worry about… you worry about not speaking Japanese.” Micah smacked a hand against his forehead and laughed. “There are spells to take care of that,” he added when she continued to look worried. “But I’ve denied his transfer, so you needn’t worry.”

“Why did you deny it?”

“Because he’s going to be raising you now,” Micah said with just a hint of smugness. “It’d be terrible to uproot a young girl from the only home she’s ever known.”

“Now that’s just mean,” Emily grinned, “and well played, sir.”

“I do my best,” Micah tipped his head to her. “Though admittedly, Tokyo may just be far enough away from Minnie that you’d be safe there.” His smile slipped.

Emily huffed, “Why does she want me dead?” she asked.

“Why did she think she needed a love potion?” Micah returned, “I don’t know.” He answered when Emily blinked at him. “I don’t know what is going on in her pretty little head. I haven’t been close to her in years now.”

“Maybe that’s why she and Chernabog…” she trailed off.

Micah looked pained. “Maybe,” he agreed.

“She has terrible tastes if she thinks Chernabog is a good replacement for you, though.” Emily blurted out.

Micah grinned as Emily turned bright red. “Well, thank you for the compliment,” he laughed. “Though admittedly, I’m sure there’s something she wants from Chernabog, and Minnie’s always used what she has to get her way.”

“Sorry but no,” Emily shook her head. “No way in hell would I sleep with someone like him just to get something.”

“Really?” Micah’s eyebrow rose. “You’d turn down power and glory because you don’t like the look of someone?”

“I’d turn it down because I don’t sleep with people I don’t love.” Emily returned. “Period. If I’m spreading my legs, it’s because I like the person. I mean, sure, maybe I’ll change my mind after I have sex for the first time. Like, maybe it’s going to be this mind altering thing where suddenly I want it all the time… but right now, no.”

Micah’s shoulders started to shake.

Emily glared at him. “Why am I tell you this?” she demanded. “Do you have a spell on you or something?”

Micah nodded his head, tears of mirth in his eyes. “Truth spell,” he gasped out between laughs. “Oh god, I didn’t think it’d be this entertaining!”

Emily covered her mouth with her hands and glared at him.

Micah shook his head. “Think of it this way, it’s the reason poor Max blurted out all his secrets.” He snickered, “so you got a nice trade off for my knowing your opinions on sex.”

“Was there a reason for the spell?” Emily demanded.

“I was actually meaning to ask you if you knew how to make cards.” Micah smiled.

“I told Chernabog that I did earlier.” Emily frowned, “it’s why he’s interested in me as more than just a corpse.”

Micah frowned, “oh, that’s not good.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “I’d much rather you stay among the living if it’s all the same.”

“I’d much rather stay among the living, too.” Emily laughed in agreement. “Plus, I have a feeling that whatever Chernabog would do to me, it’d be very, very painful.”

“He’ll want you alive at least.” Micah mused, “Living people can be saved, the dead are gone forever.” Leaning back, he glanced out the window, smiling at the sight of his park below. “Walt helped me build this place… I wanted so badly for it to be a safe place for Denizens to live… but I’ve made a mess of things by allowing the Villains to live alongside us.”

“No,” Emily shook her head firmly. “You’re still doing a good thing, Micah.” She insisted, “So what if the villains try and mess it up, you still gotta keep working towards your goals.”

“Even if my goals mean my wife will no longer be by my side?”

“She made her own choices, Micah.” Emily glanced down, “She made her choices and you’ve got to make yours. So make them and don’t regret them.”

Micah smiled and leaned across the table, touching his lips to her cheek. “You are a very sweet girl, Emily Harper, and I will be honored to count you among my Denizens.” He whispered, “Oswald said your grandfather is tagging along with him, I’m sure you’ll be very happy to see him and be able to go home.”

“Wait, what?”

“That was it.” Micah laughed, “beyond some paperwork I’ve already filled out, that was all that was needed to make you an official Denizen.”

Emily opened and closed her mouth a few times before she sagged in the chair, glaring at the king as he laughed. “That was it? Seriously? Just you saying you’ll be honored?”

“Yep,”

“Goddamn,”

Micah rose and saluted her. “Sleep tight, Emily. I have some more business to handle before I can rest.”

“Uh, goodnight whenever you do go to bed, sir.” Emily said.

Micah glanced back at her, a sudden smile on his lips. “Maybe I’ll sleep in here tonight,” he teased. “Convince you that sex is amazing.”

“That’s disgusting and I’m not legal yet.” Emily folded her arms against her chest. “Go flirt with someone else, someone who isn’t me.”

Micah laughed before shaking his head. “I just might do that.” He said with a wink. “Maybe I’ll charm Chernabog into my bed.”

“If you swing that way… by all means.” Emily’s cheeks grew red when her mind supplied her with a rather horrific mental image.

Micah frowned, “What are you thinking about, Emily?” his spell was still active, much to Emily’s horror.

“I was thinking that if you do sleep with him, don’t let him top.” Emily whispered, “He’d break you.”

Micah opened and closed his mouth, his cheeks flushing. “Emily, you just said you have no interest in sex and yet… how…” he shook his head.

“Internet.” Emily snapped, “Goddamn internet and Japanese comics. Now get out of my room with your shitty truth spell!”

Micah was laughed as he left the room, his subtle magic going with him.

Emily pressed her forehead to the table and let out a string of creative curses, most of them relating to a stupid king and his stupid magic spells. By the time she’d changed and crawled into bed, Emily wasn’t even thinking about Chernabog and his threats.

She was annoyed with Micah, and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

-

Micah leaned his arms against the railing, staring out across the land he called his kingdom. Godfrey was leaning his back against the railing, his gaze on the white-haired man sitting at one of the small tables, a lit cigarette pressed between his lips.

Donald wrinkled his nose at the smell, “So Jasper’s granddaughter can create cards?” he mused, “That could either work in our favor or be a disaster if Minnie gets to her first.”

“Minnie’s already gotten to her.” Micah sighed, “she doesn’t realize it yet, but that damn spell is going to corrupt her in the end.”

Donald made an angry noise, Godfrey only took another hard drag from his cigarette and looked distant.

“I may have to sign that contract with Ursula.” Micah whispered.

“You can’t.” Godfrey shook his head. “Giving the villains that much power will shift the balance in their favor, Micah. We can’t afford to give them anything right now. Wait for Oswald to get here and then we’ll decide where this is going.”

“Micah, are you aware of the Underlander situation?” Daisy asked as she stepped out the patio door and joined them. “Minnie’s mind fucked them all into thinking their world was destroyed by the heartless.”

Micah let out an annoyed sigh, “I can’t worry about them now. They wanted to be free of their Queen, now they are. I’ve upheld my end of the bargain.” He narrowed his eyes at Daisy when she opened her mouth to protest. “Daisy, I can only worry about so much. Yes, I know Minnie has intentions for the Underlanders, what they are, no I don’t know. I know Chernabog has zeroed in on that Dormouse of theirs, no I don’t know why on that either. I know she’s keeping them apart, and at this point there’s nothing I can do to fix their memories.”

“Oswald is the one who is good with memories.” Donald reminded Daisy gently. “We’ll start putting them to rights once he’s here.”

“Minnie would be crazy to try for Emily again when Jasper is here.” Godfrey said suddenly. “Emily must not realize how powerful Jasper really is.”

“His cards are the powerful part, he just channels them.” Donald corrected, “I envy that bastard as much as I hate him. Some of his healing cards can do in one spell what takes me weeks to accomplish. If he’d train people, we could prevent a lot of people from dying.”

“So far it seems Emily is the only person Jasper has ever taught.” Godfrey dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his boot, sighing loudly. “For all the good it’ll do us. She’s a goddamn child, a half-breed one at that.”

“Micah, if you’re making deals with the sea witch, you should see if she can’t turn Emily-“

“Out of the question,” Micah snapped. “Emily is a seventeen-year-old  _child._ The last thing she needs is to have a contract with that witch. No, if she changes on her own, that’s fine, if she doesn’t and she’s meant to die as a normal human being – so be it.”

“You’d let the last of Yen Sid’s bloodline die?” Donald demanded.

“Jasper still lives.”

“For how long, Micah?” Donald rose from his chair, eyes burning. “He is the last. Only three denizens of his age group still live, Micah. Only Merlin and the Godmother have lasted longer than he has. Hell, he’s older than Maleficent!”

“In terms of life in this world, yes, he is older than all of us.” Micah said softly, “and yes, his time may be drawing to a close, but even the immortals must eventually face their ending.” He turned his gaze back out over the park. “Perhaps mine is also coming to a close…”

“Micah,” Donald reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “You still have too much paperwork to die.”

Micah let out a startled laugh before he reached around and dragged Donald into his arms, burying his face against his shoulder. “Yeah, mustn’t forget that if I die, you have to do all the paperwork.”

“No, that’s what Oswald is for.” Donald argued as he folded his arms around Micah, nuzzling the side of his face affectionately.

“He’d be thrilled to hear you say that,” Micah breathed. “He hates me.”

“He does not,” Donald rejected. “Oswald has his issues, but hating you is not one of them.”

“I couldn’t protect him, Donald. I couldn’t stop him from being dragged away from our home. It took me years to get him back and the first thing he did was run to the other park so he didn’t have to be close to me.”

“Maybe he was running from your bitch of a wife?” Donald suggested dryly. “Micah, you’re so quick to blame yourself for things that you never stop to think that maybe someone else is to blame. Oswald does love you, he wouldn’t be coming here to help you if he didn’t.”

Micah closed his eyes and sighed. “I hope so…”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three,

Emily was restless that night. She explored her new room and discovered that there was a balcony that overlooked Downtown Disney, with a pretty view of Mickey’s Fun wheel, which was currently flashing colors. She leaned her arms against the railing and sighed softly. She wore a heavy jacket one of the servants had brought her when she complained that it was cold. The young woman had seemed confused about the complaint and even offered to turn up the heat.

Emily didn’t have the heart to explain that the type of cold she was wasn’t the sort that a jacket or a heater could fix. The cold she felt was something deeper inside, an infection that grew the more she tried to deny or ignore its existence. Sometimes it seemed like the cold feeling had always been there, but Emily knew it had started to grow inside her when she realized that she would never be someone’s important person.

It was a silly thing – but Emily had always known that she was not someone people would miss if she were to suddenly vanish from existence. Jasper might miss her for a while, but Jasper was immortal and had lost many people over his lifetime. He would survive her loss the same way he had survived the loss of his son. Her mother might mourn her death, but it would likely be something of a relief as well. Emily’s existence had always put her precious family in danger. Her mom wanted to be normal, and already she was pushing Emily out of her life in order to achieve that dream of normalcy she craved so much.

Tears fell down her cheeks, and Emily could only sigh as she reached up and brushed them away. Why was life so complicated? Why couldn’t she be one thing or the other – why was she constantly caught between worlds – belonging nowhere at all.

“I thought you would be in bed by now.” Micah’s voice was gentle but it still startled Emily. She turned quickly to face him, surprised to see him in something other than a suit. He wore simple black slacks, they were loose and seemed to be made out of some sort of shimmering material. He wore a sweater now, it was oversized and made him look like a typical college student from a local university, not the CEO and king of a multibillion dollar company.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Emily answered weakly. She remembered the tears still dripping down her cheeks and quickly reached up to wipe them away. “Did you need something?” she asked.

“I thought I told you I was going to come and seduce you?” Micah teased as he leaned his arms against the railing, his gold eyes staring out at the park that was his home. “Are you home sick, Emily?” he asked.

“You need a home in order to be homesick, sir.” Emily studied his profile, watching the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Micah,” He glanced at her, “My name is Micha, Emily. So, you don’t think you have a home?” he asked.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a home.” Emily was the first to look away, feeling strange about being alone with him, and she wasn’t sure it wasn’t because he’d reminded her of her silly little rant earlier when under the effects of his truth spell. “My mom never made our house a home, not for me at least. Jasper tried, but sometimes I’m not sure he knows what to make of me either.”

“What do you mean?” Micah cocked his head to the side slightly.

“Do you know the term replacement goldfish?” Emily glanced at him.

Micah let out a small sigh. “Yes, I know what that means.”

“Sometimes I’m not sure that Jasper sees me as his granddaughter, or if he sees me as a replacement for my dad.” Emily laughed softly and shook her head. “I love him, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it’s hard. I want to be me… not what he wants me to be.” She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling tears starting to sting the corners of her eyes.

“Emily,” Micah pushed away from the railing and reached out to her. He drew her into his arms, pulling her close. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to be so torn…”

Emily frowned. Micah was hot to the touch. “Are you not feeling well?” She glanced up at him.

Micah let out a weak laugh. “I’m trying to comfort you and you’re concerned about my health?” He stared down at her, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “You’re a very funny girl, Emily.”

Emily blinked up at him.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Micah leaned his head forward, touching their foreheads together. “You look too innocent when you look at me like that.”

“I am innocent.” Emily reminded him. “Or as innocent as any sixteen-year-old girl can be.” She laughed when colored flooded his cheeks. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.” She chided.

Micah laughed and shook his head. “You’re just too cute, Emily.” He angled his head. “It scares me a bit.”

“Why?” Emily leaned back a little in his arms.

“Because I ruin everything I touch… and I want to touch you more.” Micah tightened his grip on her, keeping her from moving away. “I want to eat you up.”

Emily watched the color of his eyes shift. Suddenly they were no longer Micah’s warm golden colored eyes, and instead, they were the empty sockets of the eyes Chernabog kept hidden behind his sunglasses.

Emily let out a shriek, struggling in his arms. “Let go of me!”

“Are you so fond of our king that you would let him touch you this way?” Chernabog wondered as he shifted his hold on her. “Should I be him so you can enjoy him more?” Again, his shape shifted, “Or perhaps this one?” It was now Donald holding her, his beautiful face inches from her own. “You are fond of pretty faces aren’t you? Most teenagers are.”

“Let go of me!” Emily pushed against his chest, but it did little good. He was so much stronger than she was, and when he pressed his mouth against hers, she could do nothing but panic at the touch.

“Chernabog.”

Emily was able to turn her head when Chernabog broke the kiss, surprised and delighted to see Max standing there. He had his sword drawn, his expression cold.

“Max,” Chernabog smiled at him. “I thought you were watching the Queen tonight. Are you so concerned about this little girl that you decided to ignore a direct order from Micah?” he shifted his grip again, no longer holding Emily as close to him.

“Micah told you to leave her alone, Chernabog.” Max sounded tired as he stepped forward, using his free hand to reach out to Emily. “Here.”

Emily yanked herself free from Chernabog’s arms and took Max’s hand, shaking badly as she stared at Chernabog.

“Emily, in the future, please remember that the wards don’t cover the balconies.” Max said as he slowly pushed her behind him. “Go inside the room please.”

Emily nodded her head and stepped back into the safety of her room, feeling the wards wash over her. She stood there, watching as Max and Chernabog spoke to one another. Finally, Chernabog vanished into thin air and Max stepped back into the room.

“Are you hurt?” Max asked.

Emily sank down onto her bed and hugged herself. “He looked like Micah.” She whispered. “I didn’t know he could change his appearance like that.”

“One of his many tricks.” Max hesitated before lowering himself down beside her on the bed. “Emily, I’m sorry. I didn’t think to warn you about the wards not working on the balcony.”

“It’s not your fault he’s so hell bent on doing whatever it is he’s doing to me.” Emily turned to look at Max, frowning. “I think he was trying to seduce me.”

Max made a disgusted face. “I think I’d rather he just stick to killing you.” He said softly. “I’m going to call Micah and let him know what happened.” He added as he took out his phone.

Emily sighed quietly while Max dialed. Her head was swimming, mostly with the fact that Chernabog now knew her views on her family and how lost she was feeling at the moment. He’d also known about what Micah had said to her earlier in the night.

“Micah,” Max said into his phone. “It’s Max. I’m sorry to call you so late but something happened.” He paused for a moment. “Yes, I did leave Minnie on her own for a bit, I hope that didn’t cause you any problems. I just had a bad feeling when I couldn’t find Chernabog, so I came to check on Emily. The wards don’t cover the balcony and he used that to his advantage.” Again there was a pause. “No. He shape-shifted into you actually… wait, you’re coming here now?” Max blinked and pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the ended call screen.

“I take it Micah’s upset?” Emily asked.

“Understatement of the year.” Max rubbed at his face before he tucked the phone back into his pocket. “It sounded like he was with Donald and my dad.” He blinked, “wonder if he’s bringing them, too.”

Emily snorted quietly before stretching out across the bed. “Why did he think I’d go for Donald?” she asked suddenly.

“Donald?” Max leaned back on his hands, humming quietly. “Probably because Donald has a fan club made up of girls your age. There’s something about how pretty he is that just makes girls fall in love with him. If looking like Micah didn’t get you to open up to him, that he probably hoped that looking like Donald would do the trick.”

“Donald’s too pretty.” Emily stared up at the ceiling. “and anyway, they’re all too old for me right now. I’m not even legal.”

“Legal doesn’t mean anything when you’re a villain, Em.” Max snorted quietly. “Jack of Heart has a list a mile long of girls he’s played with before they were legal. Sadly Chernabog is very good at keeping his lot out of trouble. Micah also steps in to keep everything neat when someone fucks up.”

“That’s sad.” Emily tucked her arm beneath her head and closed her eyes. “If I fall asleep, wake me up when Micah gets here.”

Max laughed softly. “Alright, I’ll wake you up.” He lied.

Emily was already asleep.

-

Micah was not amused when Max opened the door and held a finger up to his lips.

“She just fell asleep.” Max said as he let the three men into the room. “I’m not sure if it was shock or something else, but she just seemed so worn out.”

“Most likely it was shock.” Donald’s voice was cool as he walked over to the bed and bent down, lightly touching Emily’s face. “Her magic level is still steady, so that’s not the cause. I don’t feel any other magics at work on her… wait.” His eyes widened “Goddamn it, he put another marker on her.”

“He was touching her when I found him.” Max confessed. “I didn’t think to check for a marker, I’m sorry.” He glanced at his father, who remained silent.

“Micah, come help me.” Donald carefully pulled the jacket off of Emily and rolled her over onto her stomach. “There’s a spell tied into this one. Most likely it’s a failsafe to keep her asleep so he could come back later and snag her.”

“Was a creep.” Max hissed under his breath.

Micah said nothing as he pushed Emily’s shirt up and inspected the dark mark marring her tan skin. “What exactly did you see him do to her?” He asked Max.

“I’m not sure how long he was alone with her to be honest, Micah. I came in and he was shape-shifted as you. He was… well, he was holding her and being very affectionate with her. I think he slipped up because she started to panic and try to get free. He changed into Donald next.”

“Me?” Donald blinked. “Why?”

“He was trying to seduce her.” Godfrey said quietly. “You’re a good choice when it comes to looks. Emily is young enough to be somewhat affected by a good looking man showing her attention.”

Donald frowned before returned to his task.

Micah watched as Donald’s magic flowed across Emily’s skin, chasing the darkness away. He was more surprised when lines of white glowed beneath her skin, tiny flowers blooming. A flush stained his cheeks as he realized what he was seeing. “Donald…”

“I’m not meaning to.” Donald’s voice was strained, “she’s very sensitive to magic.”

Godfrey let out a quiet laugh from his place beside the bed. “Someone will be a lucky man when they get to see that in the right context.”

“What?” Max breathed softly. “I don’t think I understand what that is.”

“It’s…” Micah hesitated. “You’ve seen Minnie and Chernabog together, right?” he asked. “Have you ever seen her skin glow during that time?”

Max’s eyes went wide.

“That’s what this is. Magic feels good, Max. She’s unaware of it due to the sleep spell, but it still feels good and her body knows it feels good.”

“Oh.” Max blushed and looked away from the beautiful display of glowing flowers and butterflies dancing across Emily’s exposed back. “I guess that’d look really pretty in context.” He said, more to himself than anyone else.

Donald let out a startled laugh. “And here I thought your boy was totally innocent, Godfrey.” He teased. “Look at him, talking about context to make this little kitten glow for him.”

“I didn’t say me!” Max shouted.

Emily stirred, hissing quietly. “Stop yelling, Max.” she complained. She frowned when Micah laughed. “What’s going on?”

“Chernabog gave you another parting gift.” Donald said lightly as he pulled her shirt back down and eased away from her. “I was just removing it.”

“Was that why I got so tired.” Emily sat up, rubbing at her eyes. “I thought it was funny how I just wanted to go to sleep when we got back inside.”

“Indeed.” Micah studied her for a moment. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“I feel weird.” Emily looked down at her hands, and the fading glow she found there. “What did you do exactly?”

Micah shook his head. “Nothing, dear. Nothing that matters anyway.” He glanced at Donald when the other man laughed. “Next time, can we avoid going places where the bad guy can just walk right up to you while wearing my face?”

“He knew what we talked about.” Emily said suddenly. “Earlier when I was under the effects of your truth spell. Chernabog knew what we’d been talking about.”

“I don’t mind.” Micha shrugged. “I redid the wards since then so he shouldn’t be able to get inside here again.” He reached out and brushed a hand across her cheek. “But you’re really okay?”

“She said as much, your highness.” Godfrey was frowning.

Micah withdrew his hand. “Right…” he hesitated. “I think we should let you get some rest now. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Thank you.” Emily looked back at her hand, a single flower was left blooming there. She flexed her fingers, watching as it bloomed and faded. “That’s pretty…”

Micah followed her gaze and nodded. “Very.” He agreed softly. “Next time someone sees that… I think I’ll be jealous of him.”

Emily looked up, gasping softly when Micah leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Micah?”

“Good night, princess.” He said softly as he slid off the bed. “Sleep well. Jasper will be here in the morning and I’m sure he’ll have a lot to say to me about not keeping you safe.”

“Just imagine if he finds out you got to see her glow like that.” Godfrey sounded pleased.

Emily blinked. “Is… there something about the glowing that I don’t understand?”

Max cleared his throat. “I need to get back to work. Goodnight, Em.” He called over his shoulder as he fled the room.

“Most of the time,” Donald sighed, “You won’t glow like that unless you’re experiencing something extremely pleasurable. Usually, Denizens only glow when they’re doing something sexual with someone the love.”

Color flooded Emily’s face. “Why was I glowing?!” she demanded.

Donald smirked, “Because apparently my magic feels very good to you.” He leaned in close to her face, tilting his head playfully as their noses brushed. “But I can assure you, there’s more pleasurable things than my magic. I could show you if you’re ever interested.”

“Do you have a death wish?” Micah wondered idly. “Because I’m starting to think you do, Donald.”

Donald drew back with a laugh. “Oh, so protective of her, Micah. Keep that up and I’m going to start thinking you want this kitten for yourself.” He winked at Emily as he slid off the bed and straightened out the long coat he was wearing. “If you’re ever interested in a bit of fun, Emily, I’ll be glad to indulge you.”

Emily flushed and ducked her head. “N-No thank you.”

Donald laughed again, “Ah, so innocent.” He shook his head. “Such a shame. You really do look pretty when you glow. I think I’d like to see you glow like that again.”

“Donald.” Micah’s eyes were flashing. Sudden the room felt hot with magic. Emily gasped softly as she lifted her head and stared at him. She knew instantly why he was king. His magic dwarfed anything she’d ever felt before – it was like a hurricane of raw magic pressing down around them, reminding them all of who he was.

Donald dropped to his knees with a pained his, his forehead pressed against the carpet. “I apologize, my king.” He breathed.

Micah’s magic eased back.

“You shouldn’t do that.” Emily whispered. “You said the curse will work faster if you use magic.”

Micah glanced at her, his expression softening. “Emily, that was nothing for me. If I do powerful magic, then yes, the curse attached to the love potion will work faster. This, however… it truly is nothing.”

Emily stared at him.

“Terrifying isn’t he?” Godfrey remarked. “He acts so innocent most of the time, and then he drops a bombshell like this by just showing a fraction of his power. Then he goes and reminds us all that this really is nothing to him. A tiny sliver of power that can knock all of us out of the ball park.”

Donald was carefully picking himself up off the floor, dusting at his pants with a disgusted look on his face. “Gods, Micah. I didn’t think you’d do that.” He complained. “I promise I won’t tease the kitten again.”

Micah snorted. “I doubt you’ll remember that promise come tomorrow.” He said dryly. “Emily, please try and get some sleep.” He ordered.

“I will.” Emily nodded. “Thank you.”

Micah smiled faintly before he motioned for Godfrey and Donald to go in front of him.

By the time the door closed, Emily was wide awake. She stared up at the ceiling again before she raised her hand to inspect the place where the flower had been a few minutes again. Had Donald’s magic really felt that good? She regretted the fact that she couldn’t remember how it felt to be healed by him. Micah’s magic had been terrifying… but also warm. She liked the warmth, wanted to curl it around herself.

The flower on her hand shimmering briefly and Emily flushed bright red before burying her face against the pillow. Cursing beautiful men and their ability to make her feel things without even trying.

-

Jasper was sitting at the end of her bed when Emily finally woke. She stared at him for a moment, feeling her lips twitch in amusement at how calm he looked as he sipped coffee from a to-go cup.

“You didn’t sleep on the flight?” Emily yawned as kicked the blankets off and sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

“No.” Jasper shook his head. “Oswald wanted to go over some details relating to the new security system we’re going to be using at our park.” He explained. “Safe to say, it took a very long time to double check every detail before we present it to Micah.”

“Micah said I get to go home with you.” Emily told him. “I didn’t think it would be so simple. He said it was just paperwork and him having to pretty much just want me to be part of his denizens.”

“It’s easy when you’re human.” Jasper laughed. “If you’d been a Denizen trying to join, there would be much more paperwork involved for the both of you, and you’d be screened by multiple people before Micah even got the chance to greet you.”

“I guess I’m lucky I’m human.” Emily placed her hands in her lap and sighed, loudly. “Did anyone tell you what happened last night?”

“The only person I’ve seen so far has been an aid who brought me up here. Oswald went to speak with his brother.” Jasper explained with a slight smile, the smile faded when he saw the expression Emily’s face. “What happened?”

“I found out the hard way that the room wards don’t extend to the balcony.” Emily rubbed at her arms again, feeling suddenly very foolish. “Chernabog paid a visit.”

“Are you hurt?” Jasper’s voice was even.

“No.” Emily shook his head. “I didn’t know he could shape shift.” She glanced up at him. “He showed up looking like Micah, and for a while I thought it was Micah.”

“I’m concerned that you feel comfortable enough with Micah that you didn’t protest him showing up in your room.” Jasper made a face. “Em, you know Micah is…”

“Is what?” Emily frowned.

“For one thing, he is our King, whether I like him or not. He is also married, and rumor has it that he is also ill at the moment.”

“He’s cursed.” Emily frowned. “Can you do anything about that?”

“I don’t know what curse he’s under, Em, and he’d have to have a lot of trust in me to let me inspect him. Micah and I do not have that sort of trust with each other, so I doubt he’d allow me to see him with a weakness such as this. He’s masking any curse placed on him, or else the rumors would be going wild.”

“It’s a love potion.” Emily sighed, “I think it must be one created by Ursula.”

“Ah,” Jasper shook his head. “I cannot fix something like that. Love potions have very strict rules attached to them. The one who buys the potion agrees to the terms, knowing how it will affect the person they desire. In most cases, there is no happily ever after found when a love potion is used.”

“Never?”

“Never.” Jasper shook his head. “The magic used in a love potion goes against the very laws that govern our people, Emily.”

“Wait, what?” Emily sat up a little straighter. “What laws are you talking about?”

Jasper let out an amused sort of laugh before shaking his head. “Have I ever explained what the term ‘True Love’ means?”

Emily shook her head.

“Humans use the term True Love to refer to the feelings of affection they have for someone they care about very much. For Denizens, a True Love is an actual person that exists somewhere. It is every Denizens’ dream to find their True Love and achieve their Happily Ever After.”

Emily’s mouth opened and closed. “That’s real then?” She asked. “There’s such a thing as a True Love?”

“Yes.” Jasper laughed softly. “Most people are not lucky enough to find theirs, and sometimes when they do, the match isn’t good. The Universe makes mistakes sometimes when it pairs people together, because life changes a person as they live it, and Denizens live for a very long time. Micah and Minnie, for example, were True Loves when they first met. Micah took one look at Minnie and knew she was his. Now, however, I doubt they would even like each other, let alone be in love.”

“So you can fall out of love with your True Love?” Emily frowned at Jasper. It seemed sad that even true love could change with the passage of time.

“It’s not falling out of love so much as it is falling in love with the wrong people.” Jasper admitted. “A lot of us have settled for those who are not our True Loves because our original worlds were destroyed by the Heartless. To be perfectly honest, a person doesn’t usually have just one True Love.” He laughed softly at that.

Emily frowned, tilting her head to the side. “You mean there can be more than one True Love?” she asked.

“Of course.” Jasper leaned forward, a smile on his lips. “and a person doesn’t have to be your True Love in order for you to love them either, sometimes you just feel happier when you have a certain person by your side. Donald and Daisy, for example, are True Loves, but they often find themselves falling in love with human lovers as well. They know that a human lover will die eventually, and they have each other to ease the heartbreak they might feel at that loss. Though often times, they fall in love with the exact same person so they just bring them into the relationship and keep them for however long they are meant to be.”

Emily smiled at the thought. “It seems weird, and it goes against what humans think of love… but I kind of like the idea.” She flushed when Jasper’s eyebrow went up. “I don’t have anyone in mind, so don’t look at me like that. But why did you say Micah is off limits if Denizens are okay with taking more than one lover?”

“Because Micah is off limits to you.” Jasper answered simply. “He’s off limits because he out ranks you, he’s also mated to a psychopathic bitch, and you, sadly, are a human.” He reached out and tapped his knuckles against her forehead. “I know you’re smart enough to figure this out on your own, Em.”

“But mainly it’s because he’s King, right?” Emily sighed and flopped backwards. “Damn, that sucks.”

“Were you seriously thinking about him like that?” Jasper wondered. “He’s also much older than you, Em.”

“Most Denizens are much older than me.” Emily laughed. “I think Max is the only one somewhere close to my age range.”

“and Max I would approve of. You’re both half-breeds and will likely have the same lifespan as each other.” Jasper looked thoughtful. “Actually, I would approve of Max. He’s loyal and Godfrey is a good friend of mine.”

“Godfrey is terrifying.” Emily shuddered at the memory of the guard Captain. “Plus, I don’t think I feel anything towards Max. That and isn’t he the Queen’s personal guard?”

“He is.” Jasper sighed. “I guess that won’t work.”

“Are you really trying to find someone to set me up with?” Emily cocked her head.

“I will if you insist on wanting a relationship. Personally I think you should do some more growing up before you focus on romance.” Jasper flopped backwards and sighed. “Sadly, I see human kids getting together at your age, so if that’s what you want…”

“I’m not looking for a boyfriend, Grandpa.” Emily leaned back against the headboard and laughed.

“Shame,” Oswald said from where he was leaning against the wall near the entry way. “You’re quite pretty you know.”

“Oswald is not off-limits.” Jasper said suddenly, a cheerful smile on his lips. “But good luck if you decide to pursue him. I think his heart is made of stone or something.”

“No, I just don’t have a heart.” Oswald rolled his gold colored eyes and smiled at Emily. “Having fun playing with badly trained demons yet?”

“No.” Emily glowered at him. “I am not having fun, Lord Oswald. In fact, the sooner I can go home, the better.”

Oswald chuckled and nodded his head in understanding. “Yes, I figured you’d want to go home soon. I’m afraid it may be another day or two before we can make our escape. My brother is currently drowning in villains, and he can’t make time to see his brother right now.”

“He really can’t be bothered?” Emily asked, surprised.

Oswald snorted softly. “Between you and me, Micah doesn’t much care for me.” He shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

Emily frowned at him. She knew that Oswald had actually been the property of another park for a very long time. A deal Walt had made during his lifetime that had resulted in Micah’s older brother being traded off – it was back before Denizens had full rights as people. Micah had gone on to become the CEO of a multibillion dollar company, as well as King over millions of Denizens, and Oswald… Oswald was forced to be a piece of entertainment in a Denizen park that was not nearly as well-known as Disney.

Micah had finally bought his brother back, and as far as Emily knew, had sent him to Tokyo straight away. She doubted the brothers had had much of a chance to speak to each other – and it seemed to Emily that Micah was still treating Oswald like he was a thing, not a person, and certainly not his brother.

“What’s wrong, doll, you look sad.” Oswald cocked his head, his strange smile back in place.

“I was think that your brother is a jerk.” Emily admitted.

Oswald let out a startled laugh. “Far be it for me to disagree with that statement.” He grinned, this time the smile reached his eyes. Emily hadn’t realized it until just then, but his eyes seemed to stay mostly empty when he was smiling, in fact, hardly any emotion came through in his eyes.

“Emily, please always remember that Micah is a jerk. He’s pretty, but mostly he’s just a jerk.” Jasper yawned. “Oswald, were you lurking for a reason?”

“I just wanted to see how your pretty Granddaughter was doing.” Oswald pushed off the wall and walked over to the bed. He moved to far side and gingerly sat down, making sure he wasn’t touching either Jasper or Emily.

Emily blinked at that. Jasper was practically laying on her legs, and she’d never met a Denizen who didn’t enjoy being touched… they were kind of like cats. They loved to be touched and told they were pretty, it was a universal trait.

“You’re frowning again.” Oswald remarked. “Did I do something strange?”

“You don’t like to be touched?”

Jasper snorted, loudly.

Oswald laughed and shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t like to be touched, Emily, it’s that most people don’t like touching me.”

“Why?” Emily glanced at Jasper when he started to fully laugh. “I’m missing something aren’t I?”

“Why do you not like to touch Chernabog or… Maleficent?” Oswald glanced at Jasper.

“She did have a run in with her.”

“They don’t feel right.” Emily admitted. “I’m not sure what it is, but they just feel off to me.”

Oswald nodded and then held out his hand to her.

Emily hesitated before laying her hand in his. Her brain told her two things immediately. One, Oswald was old and extremely powerful, he might have actually been more powerful than Micah was. Two, Oswald’s magic felt off to her the same way Maleficent and Chernabog’s had. She took her hand back gingerly, resisting the urge to wipe it on the blanket. “What…”

“Oswald isn’t a Hero.” Jasper tipped his head back to look at her. “He’s actually a Villain.”

Emily’s mouth dropped open.

Oswald let out a small laugh. “Shocking to think the King’s older brother is a villain, yes?” he nodded his head in understanding. “I’m afraid it’s why Walt was so pleased to be rid of me. At the time when I was sold off, there was a big debate going on between Micah and Walt as to whether or not the Villains should be welcome in the parks. Somewhere in the middle of that debate, Walt decided to trade me off in order to finance the parks.”

“That’s awful…” Emily stared down at her lap for a moment. “You feel like a Villain, but you’re not a bad guy.”

“The villain is always the hero of his or her own story, Emily.” Oswald chided softly. “Maleficent used to be the King’s lover, but was scorned by him when he found a pretty human wife to replace her. The King removed all traces of her from his life and then tried to pretend that he hadn’t just fucked over a powerful Fairy Queen. By inviting the lesser fairies to Aurora’s christening, he sealed his fate.”

“The Evil Queen was originally born to rule a neighboring Kingdom,” Jasper said softly. “Snow White’s father took control of the Kingdom, killing her entire family. She survived, and eventually took up witch craft in order to take her revenge. She would have succeeded had she not given into her vanity and greed. She might even have been seen as a Hero in the end if she had freed the Kingdom from its cruel King.”

Emily looked between the two. “Scar?” she demanded. “There’s nothing redeemable about killing your own brother!”

“Scar was the eldest.” Oswald pointed out. “He should have been King, but their father decided he was the weak link. In a fight between the brother’s, he gained his trademark scar and lost his true name in the process. He should have been exiled, but his brother loved him enough to allow him a place in his Kingdom.” A grin spread across his lips, and Emily saw that it was not a happy one, it was cruel and wicked. “My brother is lucky that I don’t want to be a ruler.”

“Or you’re lucky that Micah doesn’t think you’re a threat.” Jasper stated.

“But you’re more powerful than Micah.” Both men turned to stare at Emily. “You are.” She looked between them again. “Maybe it’s because of the curse, but Micah doesn’t feel nearly as powerful as Oswald does right now.”

“Curse?” Oswald tilted his head.

Emily glanced at Jasper.

“Go ahead.” He said.

“Minnie made Micah drink a love potion made by Ursula. The effects are slowed, but if he doesn’t find a cure for it, he’ll die.”

Oswald stared at her for a long moment before nodding his head. “My brother makes such wonderful choices.” He sighed. “Knowing Ursula, I can guess which potion she’d give Minnie to use on him.”

“Oh?” Jasper glanced at the Prince.

“She doesn’t name them,” Oswald laughed, “But this particular potion makes the one who drinks it want to be close to the one who signed the contract. It increases the desire for sex and all physical contact with the person when they are together. It also makes it nearly impossible for the one who drank the potion to cause the contract holder physical harm, they can’t stand the idea of hurting the one they are in love with.” Oswald tucked his hand beneath his chin, “The downside is that the potion requires a great deal of magic to keep in effect. It drains the target of all magic, leaving them a husk. The only cure is to kill the contract holder… but as I said, it makes it nearly impossible to harm them.”

“Shit,” Jasper whispered.

“So Micah would have to kill Minnie?” Emily’s mouth dropped open.

“No.” Oswald shook his head. “Anyone can do it. Minnie just has to die.”

“Can we not talk about killing my wife, please?” Micah said from the doorway.

Emily glanced at him. “I thought you were drowning in villains.” She commented.

“I still am.” Micah said with a glance at Oswald and Jasper. “Though admittedly, I don’t know which team Jasper is one anymore.”

“I’m on my own side, your Highness.” Jasper yawned, “As always.”

“Micah, please tell me you aren’t going to do something student, like think that Minnie can somehow be redeemed.” Oswald narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Because if you’re thinking something stupid like that, you and I need to have a serious talk, and I’m going to have to rethink how smart I thought you were.”

“Oswald,” Micah glanced at Emily. “This isn’t the time or place to be having this conversation.”

“No, I think this is a perfect time to talk about this. I mean, it’s not like Chernabog is acting on your wife’s orders to harm an innocent girl… right?” Oswald snorted and shook his head. “But yes, let’s leave said child out of the loop so she doesn’t get scared. Instead, we’re going to just let her wander around with a blindfold on and hope she doesn’t stumble into one of the many villains who answer to Chernabog.”

“None of the other villains would harm someone under my protection.” Micah snapped. “Emily is perfectly safe here.”

“No.” Jasper sat up, his eyes narrowing. “She is not. If she was safe, Chernabog wouldn’t have been able to get to her last night. He wore your face, Micah. Emily is a sixteen-year-old girl, and you are a very pretty man that she trusts. What might have happened if Chernabog hadn’t decided to play with her?”

Emily remembered the kiss and shivered.

Oswald cocked his head. “Did Chernabog do something to you, Emily?” he asked suddenly. “Beyond scaring you?”

“Uh,” Emily glanced down. “He…”

Jasper let out a small oath. “Emily, what happened?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” Oswald pressed. “You would answer the question if it were nothing.” He glanced towards Micah and Emily knew what he was asking his brother to do.

“Don’t!” Emily yelled at Micah, but she felt the truth spell wash over her all the same. She pressed her hands over her mouth and glared at the three men in front of her, tucking her knees against her chest.

“Emily,” Jasper sighed and reached out, catching hold of her wrist. “Stop.”

Emily shook her head firmly.

Oswald sighed as well before shifted closer to her. He knocked Jasper’s hand away and grabbed both her wrists, yanking hard enough to bring tears to Emily’s eyes. She tried to cover her mouth again, but Oswald’s grip was impossible to break.

“What did Chernabog do that you don’t want to tell us about?” Oswald asked.

“He kissed me.”

There was a stillness to all three men that made Emily curse Micah and his damn truth spell.

“Micah,” Jasper’s voice was strange, cold as a winter night. “I trusted you with the only family I have left.”

“This will be dealt with, Jasper, I promise.” Micah closed his eyes for a moment before bowing low. “I was unaware that Chernabog had any interest in her besides her ability to do magic.”

Emily tried to remember if she’d told him the night before that Chernabog had acted interested in her, but her brain felt so fogged that she couldn’t remember anymore. The spell lifted and Oswald carefully released his hold on her. “I’d rather he just kill me.” She said quietly. “The whole wanting me for my ability to make cards like grandpa, or for… anything else… no. I don’t want that.”

“Chernabog won’t come near you.” Micah promised. “Jasper, Oswald, I’m sorry but can I talk to both of you in private? I have a little bit of time before Maleficent comes to bother me.”

“Before you go,” Emily said, grabbing old of Oswald’s sleeve, “is there a way to keep Chernabog from marking me?”

“Marking…” He glanced at Micah.

“He’s marking her for spells. He’s done it twice now.” Micah pinched the bridge of his nose. “I meant to make her a ward…”

“Here.” Oswald reached into his shirt and slipped his own necklace off. “This will give him a run for his money if he tries anything.” He grinned wickedly.

“Oswald!” Micah sounded alarmed. “That’s…”

“My personal ward, yes.” Oswald shrugged his shoulders. “If they get close enough to trigger that ward on me… well, I’d rather fight them than rely on a ward anyway.” He stood lazily, cat-like and graceful. “Emily, as much as Jasper’s going to hate me for saying this. If it comes down to it, I’ll bond you before Chernabog can get close.”

Emily knew he’d just said something shocking, because Micah let out a sharp oath and Jasper cursed, loudly. “I-I don’t think I know what bonding is.” She admitted.

Oswald laughed, a delighted sound. “You’re so innocent, it’s adorable really.” He teased. “I’d hate to bond you because it’d ruin some of your innocence, being bonded to someone as old as I am.”

“Oswald, stop talking about bonding my granddaughter.” Jasper pleaded. “you can’t bond her, she’s not a Denizen.” He added.

Oswald grinned suddenly. “Not yet.” He said softly, and then he leaned forward, cupping Emily’s face with one hand, his lips grazing across her cheek. “But you will be.” And she knew his words were for her alone.

Emily was blushing when Oswald leaned back, she didn’t even care that Jasper was making sounds like an angry dog, or that Micah looked thoroughly disturbed by his brother. She stared at Oswald, feeling something warm building in her chest. “Really?” she said.

Oswald nodded. “Without a doubt.”

Emily looked away, happy. “Okay, I’ll trust your word then.”

“Trust him about what?” Jasper demanded.

“Nothing, Jasper.” Oswald playfully pet the top of Jasper’s head as he walked around the bed to stand beside Micah. “Come along, I’m sure Emily would like the rest of her morning to herself. She’s a teenage girl after all.”

“Thank you,” Emily called after him as he turned to leave.

Oswald gave her a lazy salute before disappearing with Micah out the door. Jasper hesitated a moment before looking back. “Put the ward on, and stay in this room until I come back.” He ordered.

“Yes, grandpa.” Emily flopped down on the bed.

Jasper followed Micah and Oswald out the door at last.

Emily lay there for a moment, feeling a happy bubbling in her stomach at the knowledge that she would transition into a Denizen one day. She hoped it was soon, though some part of her didn’t like the thought of dying as a human. Dying seemed frightening, even with the knowledge that her death would mean a new life as a Denizen.

She slipped the ward around her neck as she sat back up, it felt warm and heavy between her breasts. She was just slipped out of bed when something tugged at her. She froze, looking down at the tiny heartless sitting on her bed. It looked innocent, with wide yellow eyes, its emblem clear as day on the center of its chest.

Emily moved very carefully, grabbing her deck of cards off the nightstand. She drew the first card, wondering why it was a combat card when she knew she stacked healing and shield spells. The heartless cocked its head to the side. Emily let out a breath, realizing with a sad smile that she was going to destroy a very nice room, and most likely render the wards useless.

-Oswald’s ward was about to be tested in the worst way possible –

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'll try to post weekly from this point on - I have three chapters after this already finished, but I want to keep ahead of the game in case school starts to stress me out.


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